


stars in the sky; galaxies in his eyes

by natigail



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee, Domestic, Drunken Confessions, Drunkenness, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, McDonald's, Stargazing, Strangers to Lovers, University, University of Bath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-07-04 17:51:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15846327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natigail/pseuds/natigail
Summary: As Dan got separated from his new friends at a party after his first week at university, he was ready to head home and catch up on some sleep. But first he goes to sit by the lake and contemplate life a little and accidentally he attracts the attention of Phil, who goes to see if he’s okay. The two of them start talking and they don’t stop until the sun has risen and they are both wearing exhausted but happy smiles.





	stars in the sky; galaxies in his eyes

**Author's Note:**

> In this AU, both Dan and Phil attend University of Bath and I basically got to gush a bit about the city as these two idiots are meeting and falling in love.

It was the end of Fresher’s week and Dan was absolutely exhausted.

He was also slightly pissed and lost.

The Saturday Fresher’s party was on campus grounds so he wasn’t as lost that he couldn’t find his way home but he had gotten separated from his new friends from his accommodation.

Dan wasn’t sure if they were actually friends yet. But they had all arrived, fresh-faced and nervous and it was only natural that they had clung to each other in the beginning. Evidently, his pals had now either grown more confident with splitting off or they had just gotten drunk enough not to care.

He wasn’t quite there.

He was drunk but he was still in the pleasant drunk feeling where things were a bit loopy and funny but he still knew that he would remember things in the morning. A couple of shots though and he’d be sent over the edge.

He tried to be responsible and go up to ask the bartender for a glass of water. Normally, he wouldn’t have allowed himself to do something like that, which he knew some would interpret as him being a loser who couldn’t hold his alcohol.

Well, fuck everyone who might think that.

He was thirsty, actually thirsty, not the other kind, and he wanted something to drink that wouldn’t make the hangover tomorrow worse.

However, before he even got the bartender’s attention someone threw an arm around him and pulled him close. Initially, he thought that this must be one of his lost drunk friends who had located him but instead it was a guy, almost as tall as Dan.

He was significantly broader and more intimidating than Dan.

“Are you in on some shots, boy?” the guy asked and flashed an admittedly attractive smile.

Dan’s drunk brain almost agreed but instead he made up an excuse about finding his friends and he fled out the doors. That guy’s hand had moved from Dan’s shoulder to his waist way too easily and Dan wasn’t interested in hooking up with someone during the first week.

No matter how common it might be.

He wasn’t even sure how to tell everyone that he wasn’t the default straight that everyone just assumed about everyone unless they explicitly stated otherwise.

Dan detested that straight was just the default setting but he reined in his drunk brain before it followed that tangent too far and he got upset.

Dan made it down the stairs and out into the fresh air easily enough. He might have wobbled a little on his feet as he descended but no one was around to see it, so it didn’t count.

A bunch of people were smoking just outside the building the party was held in and Dan hastily scanned to see if any of them might be the people from his accommodation. No such luck.

The campus at University of Bath was fairly impressive and Dan found himself glancing down the long pathway, which had classroom buildings on either side.

He decided that he might as well head home. He pulled out his phone and texted the WhatsApp group that they had made before heading out. He didn’t count on anyone seeing it just yet, but then if someone did get worried that he was lost he had at least not just disappeared without a trace.

He had done that at some house parties last year and his friends always roasted him for it. Dan could tell that it had come from a place of concern and thus he had tried to get better at it.

When he was drunk, he had a tendency to get philosophical and sometimes he just wanted to come outside and look at the stars.

This night was no exception and Dan started walking, still swaying a little on his feet. He wasn’t heading for his on-campus accommodation, but he just felt like walking and so he did.

When he came to the sign by the canteen that pointed towards the little lake, he promptly turned left to follow it. The stairs wasn’t his friend this time either but he held onto the railing and at least he didn’t stumble this time.

It was dark, the sky was clear and it was fairly warm for mid-September. The lake glistened in the moonlight and Dan headed straight towards it.

He had considered a lot of universities when he had to pick and he had almost ended up at Brighton but in the end he had realised it wasn’t very practical to pick a university based on the proximity to the ocean.

Dan had always found the sound of waves deeply calming and while a lake wasn’t the same, there was a gentle breeze in the air that made the water move just a bit. Dan sat down, ungracefully, right by the edge of the water and started to run his left hand through the water.

It had been a crazy week.

He had made sure to participate in all the social events, even as they scared and exhausted him. He was fairly certain that he had laid the foundation for some potential good friendships but he still didn’t feel like he was fitting in.

He lacked a sense of belonging and he felt a bit alone.

The time he had broken down in the toilet paper aisle at Tesco and called his grandmother on the verge of tears had been a particular low point. He felt utterly prepared to tackle adult life but he didn’t have a choice.

He was living on his own and he would have to do all the adult things, whether he wanted to or not.

It was exciting being on your own and being able to make your own rules but it was also extremely scary when Dan thought too much about it, like right now.

Here by the lake, he felt like he was completely alone and he started to contemplate his existence or rather the pointlessness of it. He was just one British kid going to university and he was acting like it was important and grand. Hundred of thousands of kids started university every year. It wasn’t that special.

He let out a deep sigh and felt how the breath move through his body, drawing his shoulders up as he breathed in and how everything dropped when he finally let it go.

“Hi,” someone called behind Dan and he was so lost in thought and feeling alone that he almost jumped up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you jump,” the same voice continued and Dan finally forced his eyes to focus on the guy approaching him with his arms up and open like he was nearing a wild animal.

“It’s okay,” Dan said and looked from the lake to the guy once more.

Dan couldn’t recognise him but he was tall, a bit lanky and he looked friendly. He was probably not an axe murderer, Dan’s brain supplied.

“I just saw you sitting here and I wanted to make sure that you were feeling okay. And that you weren’t drunk enough to tumble into the lake or something.”

Dan cracked a little smile at that. “I’m okay. A bit drunk but not enough that I’d fall in. Worry not.”

Dan had expected this stranger to turn around and walk away now that he had made sure that Dan wasn’t in imminent danger but instead Dan heard footsteps that brought the guy closer.

“Can I sit with you?”

“Err… I don’t own this space, so I don’t think I would refuse it,” Dan noted as his eyes started up at the stranger again.

He felt so little with one hand on top of one of his knees, the other leg curled under him and his other hand still right next to the water.

“Good point,” the stranger said and sat down. “I’m Phil, by the way.”

“Dan,” Dan said.

“Fresher, right?” Phil asked.

“What gave it away?” Dan asked and indicated his outfit and most noticeably the white T-shirt with neon paint all over it.

“The lost look on your face actually,” Phil joked and he successfully made Dan huff a brief laugh.

“Let me guess? Graduate student?”

“Ding, ding, ding,” Phil replied and he smiled so brightly that Dan needed to blink a couple of times to process.

His drunken mind might be messing with him a bit but this guy was seriously attractive. What the hell was he doing walking around and sitting down next to lone Freshers?

Normally, when you met someone at university, you’d ask what they studied but for some reason Dan just didn’t want to talk about that. He felt like he hadn’t talked about anything else all week.

He wasn’t even started on his degree yet, so it wasn’t like he had much to report on it anyway. Besides, it wasn’t what he was thinking about at the moment. He had been deep in thought before Phil walked up and due to the alcohol his brain to mouth filter was partially broken, so he didn’t plan to say the next words out of his mouth at all.

“Does it get better?” he asked and he immediately regretted the question and now Phil was frowning and looking concerned, so Dan hurried to explain what he meant. “Not in general, I just… with starting university, this week has been crazy and I just keep feeling like I’m… not fitting in. It’s probably stupid.” Dan threw back his head and laughed at his own stupidity. “We just met. I’m drunk, sorry ignore me.”

As he smoke he tightened his hold on his knee and that served to ground him a bit.

He had expected Phil to just brush it off and move past it, and Dan was just about to open his mouth and ask what Phil was studying but Phil started speaking before Dan had the chance.

“It’s not stupid,” Phil said sincerely and looked out over the lake, which gave Dan an opportunity to look at Phil’s face. “I felt like that too. I think a lot of people do. They just don’t like to talk about it because university is supposed to be one of the best times of your life, the last time you have before you have to go forth and find a real job, you know? That part still scares me. What will I be working with in a year’s time? Will I be able to find a job? All that stuff. But to answer the question you didn’t want me to answer,” Phil said and turned his face to catch Dan’s eyes. “It does get better. I had a wonderful time during my undergraduate here. I tried to push myself to talk to people, even if it scared me, you know. And join the clubs. Bath has a club for just about everything and if one doesn’t exist you can just make it. It’s pretty neat. I made one for Mario Kart actually.”

Phil was talking rather fast and Dan’s drunken brain was having a little trouble processing all of the information but he was just struck by how sincerely and honestly Phil spoke and then of course, he caught the last part.

“Mario Kart? A club for Mario Kart?” Dan asked and giggles made their way up his throat.

“Yes,” Phil said completely seriously and Dan took note of the rosy colour in his cheeks. He had probably been drinking too, he was dressed rather smarty and it looked like his hands had been accidentally smattered with neon paint.

“I’m so joining that club,” Dan said, excitedly.

“I’ll put in a good word for you with the president,” Phil said and legitimately wiggled his eyebrows. It was utterly uncoordinated but somehow that made it even funnier.

“You’re weird.”

“I know,” Phil said easily and he was even smiling. Dan hadn’t meant it as an insult but he was still a little surprised that Phil took it so well.

He embraced the weirdness.

“I always say that normalness leads to sadness,” Phil said. “You have to get your fun out of life where you can. It’s one of the reasons that I never wear matching socks.”

“You don’t what?”

“Don’t look at me like that! It’s true.”

“Prove it then,” Dan said and glared at Phil with a challenge in his eyes.

“Oh, I will,” Phil said and started to pull off his shoes.

He was indeed wearing different socks, one was blue with corgis on it and the other was pale with cacti on it. Phil then proceeded to attempt to stick his feet in Dan’s face, and Dan was laughing and grabbing hold of Phil’s legs and putting them down and narrowly missing sliding into the lake.

“I swear you didn’t seem drunk a moment ago,” Dan said with a laugh as Phil stared down at his feet like he only just comprehended that he had pulled off his shoes and stuck his feet in a stranger’s face.

“I was… I’m a little tipsy and my friends did insist on me trying this flaming shot or something before I left. It might just be hitting me now,” Phil said and Dan could swear that his face got a little redder. “Sorry about the feet thing.”

Phil started to pull his shoes back on, with difficulty.

As Dan looked at Phil, he felt a sense of calm in his heart that not even the lake had been able to grant him.

What a freaking character – to think that such a man existed suddenly filled Dan with hope.

“Why did you leave the party? Wait never mind that, why were you at a Freshers’ party at the first place? Isn’t it a bit old for you?”

“How old do you think I am? I still enjoy fun,” Phil said pointedly while he finally managed to get the one shoe back on. “But you’re right. I probably wouldn’t have gone to a Freshers’ party normally, no offence.”

“None taken,” Dan said and waived a hand dismissively.

“But my roommate’s girlfriend just started here and he wanted to go and join her for the party but he didn’t want to go alone.”

“Scared she wouldn’t be faithful or scared she’d end up ditched by her friends like me?” Dan said and tensed a bit when he realised that he had accidentally revealed a bit too much to Phil. Again.

Phil, however, didn’t blink or pause to make Dan feel bad.

“The latter, I think. Can’t be sure. Though, if he was scared that she wouldn’t be faithful just because she was in a new place and meeting lots of new people then they probably shouldn’t be together. Also, for you,” Phil added, “the friends you make in the first week doesn’t have to be the ones you’re stuck with for the whole time. You’ll meet more awesome people here.”

As Phil finally managed to lace up his shoes, he stood up and stretched out.

“Hey do you want to get some food?”

At Phil’s question, Dan’s stomach rumbled and he didn’t think a beat about agreeing. He was about to begin the task of getting off his butt when Phil stretched out a hand. He was holding out his right hand, which meant that Dan reached out to grab with his right hand as well and he almost ended up pulling Phil down on top of him by accident.

“Sorry,” Dan mumbled as he finally managed to get to his feet. “Leftie.”

“You’re left-handed?” Phil said and he spoke with such enthusiasm that Dan wasn’t used to.

He had usually been teased for being left handed as it set him apart from the other students and it always made it almost impossible for him to write on the board without erasing everything with his hand.

“Do you know left handed people are said to be more creative? Are you creative?” Phil asked as they started to walk up the stairs and back to the main pathway.

“I… I suppose so. Maybe? I don’t know.”

“I think you’re creative,” Phil stated.

“And what do you base that on?” Dan asked with a smile.

“Because you seem like a deep thinker and that’s also usually someone who is creative. And I’m trusting the left handed statistic to be correct,” Phil said and winked at Dan.

It was a little stilted, because he didn’t wink with one eye like flirting. He blinked with both eyes, just slightly out of sync, but somehow that seemed even cuter to Dan.

“Where do you want to go?” Dan asked.

“I was thinking McD in town?” Phil said as they headed past the party, completely ignoring it, and walked towards the bus stop.

It would mean that Dan would be much farther away from his accommodation but he could use a cheeseburger and some nuggets. Maybe even a McFlurry, so he sat down patiently next to Phil at the bus stop.

The bus arrived rather quickly and Dan was fumbling with his coins, because you had to have exact change to get a ticket and the bus driver was having no patience, so Phil somehow talked the driver into letting Dan ride on Phil’s bus pass.

Dan was fairly certain that it didn’t work like that, as he had researched them because he might need to get one, but the bus driver might also just be too tired to argue.

They walked all the way to the back of the bus and took up the five seats for the two of them.

“Dan, do you ever get that spinning feeling when you close your eyes while you’re drunk?” Phil asked and Dan looked over to find him with his eyes closed

“Are you going to be sick?” Dan asked hurriedly.

But Phil just opened one eye at him and he was smirking.

“No, not in a like you’ll be sick way,” Phil said as the bus started the drive down the hill to the city centre. “Like in a I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster way.”

“No, I don’t,” Dan said. “If I close my eyes and the room feels like it’s spinning around me then I always have to go find a bin or toilet fast.”

“It depends on your drunkenness, but if you’re in that sweet spot, you should try to close your eyes and just feel it. It’s pretty cool. You can feel like you’re floating,” Phil said still with his eyes closed. “What music do you listen to when you’re sad?”

Dan was a little stumped by the rapid change in conversation and the depth of Phil’s question but he was finding it rather cathartic to be completely honest with this stranger and perhaps Phil felt like that too.

“Anything by Fall Out Boy,” Dan said. “You know, it just bring me back to my emo days.”

“Are those over?” Phil asked with a glint in his eye. “Your hair says otherwise.”

Dan tried to look offended but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face.

“Have you looked at your own haircut?” Dan shot back. “And your hair is black!”

“Touché,” Phil said and did a mock bow as much as his seated position allowed him. “Want to hear a secret?”

“Yes,” Dan said without any hesitance.

Phil leaned in close to Dan’s hear and he could feel Phil’s breath on his neck, which made his thoughts go haywire but he still just caught the words that Phil whispered.

“You dye it?” Dan asked and he didn’t realise that he had practically shouted it until he saw the other passengers in the bus staring back at them and then Phil was laughing against his shoulder.

“Yes,” Phil confirmed. “But remind me to never tell you any secrets.”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Dan whined. “I was just surprised. What’s your real hair colour?”

“Nope, you’re bad at keeping secrets,” Phil said and popped Dan on the nose. “And we’re here.”

Phil was taking Dan’s hand and dragging him out of the bus as if it was a perfectly rational and normal thing to do.

Dan’s heart was disagreeing but he let Phil drag him all the way down Southgate St. until they reached McDonalds. They weren’t the only students who had thought of the idea of a midnight snack and the queue was torturously long but they find a way to pass time rather quickly.

Dan wasn’t even sure how they had started to talk about it but suddenly they were just trying to do impressions of accents and they were both horrible at it, which made it that much funnier. It made the queue time pass by much quicker and soon enough they were digging into their food, seated in a corner booth at McDonalds.

Phil had gotten seated first and Dan should probably have sat across from him like a normal person but instead he sat down right next to Phil and he only realised his mistake when he had sat down and it was too late to change it now.

But Phil didn’t seem to mind, so Dan let it go as one of the less weird things of the evening.

“Why did you pick Bath to study at?” Phil asked between bites.

“I thought we were avoiding the normal topics of conversation,” Dan said with a raised eyebrow. They hadn’t actually agreed that but Dan had just felt like they had shared that understanding but maybe not.

“Oh, I don’t want the plain answer. I want the real one. You know people almost always have two answers; the proper, logical and correct one which is the one they usually share and then they’ll also have a deeper and more private reason that they usually keep to themselves. Right? So give me the private one.”

Dan had never considered it much before but he supposed that Phil made sense. People usually had layers behind the decisions they made and some reasoning was probably more private and something they didn’t want to share.

“Okay, honestly? Other than the high student satisfaction, or my programme, or the fact I could get a scholarship, which you are right are all the logical reasons, I also just… I don’t know I liked the sound of the city. Bath. Where do you live? Bath. It just created this image in my head and I just couldn’t help but feel like it was where I was supposed to be.”

“See, you had an interesting and non-boring reason for picking this place,” Phil said and took a sip of his coke. “And it’s pretty funny. The first time I had a bath after moving here, I literally took a photo and with a stupid caption like ‘I’m taking a bath in Bath’ or something like that.”

Dan laughed because it was somehow incredibly endearing but he also accidentally got the image of Phil in a bath into his head.

“I would have liked that,” Dan confessed.

“As anyone should with that level of comedy,” Phil said in an attempted serious voice but he was still grinning. “And if you haven’t been to the Roman Baths yet, just prepare yourself that the water is green.”

“Green?”

“Yes, green!”

“I’ll watch out for that,” Dan said with a smile and then finished the last scoop of his McFlurry.

He was feeling comfortably full and as the booze was wearing off, he started to feel even more tired but he wasn’t ready to leave quite yet. He didn’t want this night to end.

A couple of hours ago, he had been lost and ready to just fall down in his bed but right now he was fine sitting at a slightly greasy table at McDonalds just sharing stories with a guy he had only just met.

“What have you loved most about living here? The real deep answer,” Dan said and twirled the McFlurry spoon around with his fingers. He tended to fidget when he got a little nervous.

“Probably the people. It’s mostly old rich people and then students that live here and that creates a certain atmosphere and then there are all the people who drive her for the shopping and also tourists. But mostly it just feels like an inviting place, I always feel safe walking the streets here and all that Bath stone - you know the yellow pale stone that every building is made with here in the centre? – is ridiculously soft to the touch. It’s a bit of a problem because they’re vulnerable to the weather and stuff but it’s also pretty cool. But it’s mostly the other students that make me like this place. We have a lot of exchange students coming in too, so I have made friends with people that live so far away.”

Dan watched as Phil just rambled on and it was so oddly reassuring to him. Phil didn’t stop to apologise for rambling or going on, like Dan so often found himself doing whenever he got very excited about something.

Too often he had felt like no one listened when he spoke but it was completely the opposite with Phil. He always listened intensely and he paid attention and seemed interested in what Dan had to say and Dan felt the same thing about Phil.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know more people then,” Dan said and played with his plastic spoon again.

Silently to himself, he was wondering if he had accidentally stumbled upon the most interesting person he had ever met during his first week.

Phil was himself so unapologetically and Dan couldn’t even describe how attractive that was. Dan felt drawn to Phil in more ways than one – he might want to touch and kiss him a bit but more importantly he wanted to pick at Phil’s brain and figure out how it worked.

He was intrigued, even in his exhausted state.

He wasn’t sure what Phil saw in him but Phil was also looking at him with utmost interest.

“It’ll be great,” Phil said and bumped his knee against Dan’s. “I promise. Now, tell me something that you contemplate about, like back when you went down to sit by the water.”

“It looked pretty weird, didn’t it?” Dan said and felt a small rush of embarrassment.

“No,” Phil said with a gentle headshake. “Well, it was but not in a bad way like you’re making it sound. You looked very contented and at peace and I almost kept walking but I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

“You thought I might, what, hop in the lake or something?” Dan asked and for the first time since they had met, Dan felt a bit uncomfortable with Phil.

However, Phil rushed to correct him.

“No, and it’s not why I’m spending time with you either before you accidentally think that,” Phil said and caught Dan’s thought spiral before it could spin out of control. “You’re interesting and nice to talk to. I haven’t been able to talk to someone like this for a long time. So you still owe me an answer, Dan.”

The way Phil was smiling and looking at Dan instantly lifted his mood.

“I suppose you could call it a bit of an existential crisis,” Dan confessed. “I get those from time to time and I’ll just lie on the floor for hours and just think about the universe and stuff. It helps if I’m outside and can look up at the sky or sit by the water. It makes me feel grounded in the moment.”

“Have you been to see Bath’s skyline yet?” Phil asked and perked up like he had an idea.

“No, I haven’t yet.”

“Then let’s go,” Phil said and lightly pushed Dan to get out of his seat.

“What?”

“Let’s go see the skyline. It’s a beautiful clear night and it’s almost full moon, so you’ll be able to see it perfect. And we’d have to get you back to campus anyway, right? I assume you like there.”

“Yeah,” Dan confirmed, “but what are you suggesting?”

“A hike, silly.”

“In the middle of the night?” Dan asked and his tone went high out of sheer surprise.

“Yes, it’ll be fun. It’s less than 3 kilometre and we’ll stop off and watch the skyline on the way.”

Dan was eyeing Phil like he was crazy.

What he was suggesting was a bit crazy. It could also potentially be dangerous because the place overlooking the skyline would likely be secluded and without people and Dan didn’t know Phil.

He could be an axe murderer, even if he looked perfectly friendly.

Dan didn’t actually believe that. He felt like he was pretty good at reading people and they had been talking for hours already and Phil had been nothing but kind and friendly the whole time.

“I’d love to be the one who shows it to you,” Phil said and he was pouting and giving Dan puppy dog eyes.

He had only known the guy for such a short while but he already felt completely whipped.

It went against logic but Dan agreed to hike back up the hill to campus with Phil.

It was worth it to see the gleeful expression on Phil’s face. His whole face lit up and he interlocked his arm with Dan as they moved out of McDonalds and started the trek.

It had been a long intro week for Dan and he was definitely feeling it as they walked through town and the stadium and started the climb up the hill.

But Phil was distracting him from the fact that he was exercising with more seemingly random questions. Dan learnt that Phil had a whole collection of houseplants that he tended to kill off but he was trying to be a good plant daddy.

Yeah, Dan got a good laugh out of that phrase.

Phil asked Dan about the stars and Dan launched into a whole spiel about his fascination. He hadn’t realised how long he had been talking until Phil suddenly pulled him aside from the road and houses and towards a field.

“Is there anyone in there?” Dan asked as Phil opened the fence.

“Nope, people walk their dogs here in the morning though. It’s glorious,” Phil said.

As they walked to the middle of this big grassy field Dan started to look out over the city of Bath, nestled in its valley and looking quite beautiful. The sight took his breath away just a little.

It might also have been because Phil took his hand because he kept stumbling over the uneven hillside. Dan wasn’t sure when he had last held anyone’s hand but it felt like Phil took his easily and without overthinking it, so Dan just put it out of his mind.

Phil was much more comfortable with little touches and normally Dan wasn’t a fan if strangers acted like that towards him but someone, unexplainably, it felt different with Phil.

It might have something to do with the fact that Phil’s large hand slotted perfectly into Dan’s large hand.

It felt a little like they were made to fit together but Dan tried to keep his mind from running off with him.

The grass was covered slightly in dew but Phil still insisted that they lie all the way down in it. Dan’s clothes were already ruined by all the neon paint so he didn’t put up much of a complaint.

“What you been here often?” Dan asked.

“The semester I tried to run in the morning, I would also just make it here and then talk to some dogs and then run back. But I gave up on it eventually. Not much of a fitness guy.”

“And yet you suggested that we hike back to uni instead of taking the bus despite it being like 5 AM by now.”

Phil said up slightly. “Is it really that late?”

“I think so,” Dan said and pulled out his phone to check. It was almost half past 5 AM.

It must have been three hours or so since they met but Dan felt like the time had passed in the blink of an eye.

Time seemed to fly at super speed while he was talking to Phil.

He had always wondered what people were rambling about when they said that they just ‘clicked’ with someone. It had seemed impossible but now he was starting to get what people had been talking about.

For Dan, it wasn’t necessarily that he had liked Phil from the very beginning it was more that from every word Phil spoke, Dan couldn’t wait to here more. He was so easy to talk to and Dan felt like he had unpacked stuff with Phil that he hardly dared to mention to his closest friends.

It would be partly because of the alcohol and maybe even the fact that Phil was a stranger. It felt like this night was happening without consequences and time was paused outside of their little bubble.

Dan didn’t want it to end.

They started watching the night’s sky and Phil had been right that it was clear and a beautiful sight. Dan wasn’t sure if he had ever seen such a clear night but he might be a little biased because of his company.

Dan stole a couple of glances at Phil when he was busy looking up at the sky.

Phil’s skin was very pale but he had a very light dusting of freckles on his cheekbones and his arms. His eyes appeared blue at first sight but Dan was sure that he had other colours swirling around in there, even if he wasn’t close enough to see that properly.

“So you were talking about the vastness of the universe, right?” Phil asked. “And you think that it makes us insignificant little tiny organic beings on a little tiny planet?”

Dan breathed into his stomach and looked back up at the stars again. He had been going off on a tangent when they had found the field and he had been distracted.

“It’s how I think sometimes,” Dan confirmed. “But at other times, I feel like that’s what makes life something amazing. We can do whatever we want with it. It’s ours to define what should have value and what shouldn’t. That’s crazy cool. But then I sometimes think about how we only get this one life and it’s our responsibility to live it and what if you end up wasting whatever time you have, you know?”

Phil hummed to indicate that he had heard Dan and that he was thinking over his reply. Dan had picked up on that habit quickly and he found it quite sweet.

“But there shouldn’t be such a thing as wasting your time, should there? I picked the wrong major when I first started,” Phil said. “And I had to start a new and different education, which I worried about so much at the time. At first, I felt like that year was just wasted but then as the years moved on, I realised how much I learned during that course even if I had to pick again. It wasn’t wasted just because I couldn’t use the credits. Even if I hadn’t learnt a damn thing and it had been utterly horrible and I hadn’t made any friends, which I did by the way, then it still wouldn’t have been wasted.”

“How do you figure?” Dan asked, genuinely interested.

“Because I found out that it wasn’t for me. I was able to look at something I might want to do with my life and then decide that it wasn’t something I wanted to do. That’s a valuable lesson in itself.”

“I bet you’d be the person changing careers at like forty and being completely content with it,” Dan commented.

“I probably would. Wouldn’t you?”

“I’d hope so,” Dan said truthfully. “It’s just a lot with all these pressures to pick something where you’ll be able to get a job and where you’ll be respected.”

“I know,” Phil said and let out a deep sigh. “I do worry about it still. I just try not to. The universe has a way of working itself out, as long as you keep trying your best. Oh, and you should always spread kindness like confetti.”

“Kindness like confetti?” Dan asked with laughter bubbling up his throat.

“I read that somewhere. I quite like it. I’ve even got it on a poster back at my flat. It’s a lovely image, isn’t it?”

Dan looked at Phil and he could practically see the confetti emitting from him. He was indeed radiating kindness. He was exuding it with his whole being and Dan felt utterly drawn in.

Phil looked over at Dan and their eyes locked.

Dan might be projecting but he could swear that he saw the stars reflected in Phil’s eyes. In fact, they looked like they had whole galaxies inside of them. It was mesmerising and Dan just couldn’t look away.

“Is it stupid that I feel like you might just be one elaborate dream and I’m in fact sleeping like face first in the ground by the lake?” Dan asked, voice humorous but his heart was beating rapidly in his chest.

Phil smiled, just the tiniest twinge upwards in one corner of his mouth and Dan had never seen that Phil smile before. He had noticed that Phil had a lot of different smiles and the detail obsessed part of him wanted to map out every single one.

Each was special in it’s own way.

“It’s not stupid,” Phil said in a whisper and Dan could hear the smile in his voice as well as see it on his face. “I didn’t expect to meet someone like you tonight.”

“Who? A Fresher dork who has existential crises and rambles too much?” Dan said.

“No,” Phil said in all seriousness. “Someone special.”

Dan’s heart was about to leap out of his chest and he almost wanted to lean in and kiss Phil. He wasn’t sure when their faces had gotten closer but he desperately wanted to close the last of the distance but he didn’t.

It would ruin the tender moment if Phil didn’t return his feeling.

And even if Phil could, possibly, maybe, feel the same thing Dan was feeling he selfishly didn’t want their first kiss to be when they were both tired and exhausted and slowly growing more sober.

Still, Dan saw the galaxies in Phil’s eyes and the stars and moon above them was the only witnesses to this special moment.

Dan had never been called special like that before.

He had a tough time accepting compliment as it was but Phil spoke with so much sincerity that Dan’s heart had no choice but to accept it.

“Look, the sun is coming up,” Phil said and pointed out at the horizon.

Dan was thankful for this distraction because he might not have the willpower to stay away from Phil’s lips otherwise.

The sky was just starting to brighten up the tiniest smidgen in the horizon but it was a beautiful sigh.

Silence fell over the two of them again but Dan decided to be brave and reach over to take Phil’s hand for a change. Phil didn’t look at him as their hands met but he did open his palm and intertwine his fingers with Dan.

Phil started yawning repeatedly, even if he tried to hide it from Dan.

“Tired?” Dan asked in a teasing voice.

“I’m allowed to be tired. It’s the morning and I haven’t slept yet.”

“Okay, old man,” Dan teased.

Phil looked mock offended and he reached over to grab Dan’s side which caused Dan to squeal loudly because Phil managed to expertly hit his ticklish spot.

“Oh?” Phil said with a raised eyebrow. “Ticklish are we?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Dan said and he was already letting their hands fall apart and pulling away from Phil because he could recognise that look.

“Of course, I wouldn’t.”

“Philip, I swear-“

“Full name, huh?” Phil said before he threw himself at Dan who managed to partly roll away.

It wasn’t the biggest success because instead of just moving out of Phil’s grasp, he started to roll down the hill.

It should have been scary or uncomfortable but Dan was laughing at the top of his lungs and Phil was following right behind him as he had tried to make a grab for him and lost his balance as well.

They didn’t roll that far but they ended up almost on top of each other and the two of them were just laughing and laughing and none of them could stop.

Phil had given up trying to tickle Dan but they were both fighting the onset of laughter but as soon as it started to die down for one of them they would catch the other’s eye and just start laughing all over again.

They were still laughing and laughing when a dog came running up to them and started to attempt to lick their faces.

“Hello,” Dan said in his softest voice as he tried to get the laughter under control to pet the dog.

“Georgie! Georgie!” the owner called without any response from the black terrier.

“At least it’s not called Fenton,” Dan said cheerily and looked at Phil and they just burst out laughing all over again.

The owner found his dog leaping around the two laughing idiots with tired eyes but happy smiles, covered in neon paint and grass, lying on the middle of the hillside.

All things considered the lady was very nice.

The two of them had trouble shaking the giggles for the rest of the climb up to campus. As they reached the University of Bath at the driveway into campus, Phil suddenly tugged excitedly on Dan’s arm.

“Let’s go sit on the sign,” he said.

“What?” Dan asked, tired and not following.

“I’ve always wanted to stand on the sign but I’ve never actually done it.”

Dan was pretty sure he would be unable to refuse any request from Phil, so he willingly followed over to the sign and helped boost Phil on top of it. Phil then pulled up Dan.

“You’re so not allowed to do this, are you?”

“I don’t think so,” Phil said and shot Dan that smile where he tongue was poking out the side a little.

The bright morning like was harsh on the both of them, with their exhausted expression but Dan couldn’t help but take in just how happy Phil looked.

A runner came by and shouted at them that they weren’t allowed to sit on the sign and then Phil jumped down, pulling Dan along with him and he just started running too.

Dan wasn’t sure where he got all the energy, Dan was pretty much running on just fumes by now but quickly they returned to their normal walking pace. Phil insisted on followed Dan all the way to his building and then all the way to his door because he needed to make sure that Dan was getting home okay.

It was a bit ridiculous and over the top but Dan allowed it. However, with the key in his door, he suddenly remembered that it ended here. Their weird and magical night had to come to an end.

It couldn’t go on forever.

Phil would have to go. But Dan made a mental reminder to look up that Mario Kart society and join first thing tomorrow. He wasn’t letting go of Phil now that he had found him.

It wasn’t just Dan that was lingering, Phil was also looking like someone who didn’t want to leave at all.

For the briefest second, Dan considered asking him inside but again something told him that it wouldn’t be a good idea. Partly because Dan was utterly exhausted and he would probably be asleep as soon as he stumbled over to his bed.

“I…” Dan said but then the words just didn’t want to come out. He wasn’t sure what to tell Phil.

I loved spending this bizarre night with you?

Please let us be friends?

Please let us be more?

Please just let me know that we can be in each other’s lives one way or another because you are the most special person I’ve ever met and I’m still worried that you’ll just disappear into thin air when I wake up tomorrow?

When Phil saw that Dan struggled, he did what he always did, at least during their brief time of knowing each other, and he made things better and easy.

He was pulling Dan into a warm embrace and Dan clutched on immediately. Phil seemed to be able to speak with his body all the words that were trapped inside of Dan’s throat.

_I thought it was special too._

_Of course we’ll see each other again._

_I loved spending time with you too._

Dan was content to fall asleep standing up in Phil’s arms but he knew he couldn’t do that. Phil was warm and he smelled nice and he was just the embodiment of comfort and belonging.

Dan had felt like an outsider looking in all week but this night, with Phil taking him around town and talking about big and small things, he had finally felt like this place could be a home.

It could be something real.

He would be able to find his spot here. And his spot might be right next to Phil.

“I’ll see you soon, okay?” Phil said as Dan reluctantly pulled away after what might have been several minutes.

Another thing about Phil, he never let go of a hug first. He had said it offhandedly as they were walking up to the skyline spot and Dan hadn’t thought that it was actually true but here Phil was waiting for Dan to pull away first before breaking the hug.

Dan wondered what would happen if he just never let go. He didn’t want to let go of Phil. He did want to hold onto him forever.

If Phil let him

He wanted it so desperately but exhaustion was also starting to make his vision blur slightly and he could barely make out the grin that Phil sported.

“Go get some sleep, before you fall asleep standing up, Dan.”

“It wouldn’t be so bad if I could lean on you,” Dan said and he inwardly cursed the way sleepiness was now breaking his brain to mouth filter just like alcohol had done.

But Phil didn’t seem like he minded as his smile widened.

“I’ll still be here tomorrow, Dan.”

“You know that you’re it too, right?” Dan asked.

He needed Phil to know. He needed to say it even if he was tired and probably not makig any sense.

“I’m what?” Phil asked, confused.

“Special,” Dan clarified and he tried not to slur his words too much. “You’re a very special too.”

“Thank you, Dan,” Phil said earnestly. “Now unlock that door and lie down before you collapse, okay?”

Dan nodded and finally turned his key and stumbled through his doorway.

“I’ll see you, Phil.”

“I’ll see you, Dan,” Phil confirmed.

“Are you okay getting home?” Dan asked suddenly as an afterthought before he closed the door.

“Yeah, my flat is pretty nearby. Just a little walk. Don’t you worry.”

“Be safe, Phil.”

“I promise.”

“Nothing can happen to you,” Dan declared. His heart wouldn’t be able to take it if something did.

“It won’t. I promise.”

Dan nodded and hesitantly closed the door. He managed to pull off his shoes but that was all he bothered with until he collapsed on the pillow and lazily pulled his duvet up to cover his body.

It was only when he woke at noon, still tired but better, that he remembered that he should have asked for Phil’s phone number. Through all their talking, he hadn’t even considered it.

It had been such a normal thing during intro week to exchange information with everyone but for some reason it hadn’t occurred to Dan at all while he was spending time with Phil.

It just felt like Phil would be there.

Dan was just finished brushing his teeth and changing into his loungewear when he heard a knock on his door. He figured that it would just be one of the people from his hall that he had been with at the party who was coming to check up on him.

It wasn’t.

Dan was greeted with a much more pleasant sight and he took no prompting to throw his arms around Phil’s neck.

“Careful,” Phil said with laugher bubbling up his throat. “Watch the coffees.”

Dan hadn’t even noticed that Phil was holding two cups but he carefully pulled back his arms from around Phil’s neck and noticed them.

“I figured you might need it. And yours isn’t actually a coffee but that’s just the expression isn’t it? It’s a Chai tea. I remember you mentioned that you’re not much of a coffee drinker.”

Dan was just staring at Phil, wearing dark jeans and a causal but nice button-up and he was standing in Dan’s doorway.

He was real.

Last night had actually happened. It hadn’t been some bizarre alcohol-induced dream. Phil was standing here.

“I want your phone number,” Dan said because his mind was still caught up on that detail.

Phil blinked a bit at his bluntness but nodded. “Yeah, I realised that we forgot to exchange numbers on my walk home.”

“Was it really only like five hours since you left here?” Dan said and felt a yawn coming back.

“It was,” Phil confirmed. “But I woke up and I wanted to come see you. I realised I forgot to ask something.”

“The phone number?” Dan guessed.

“No,” Phil said with a gentle shake of his head and bent down to place the holder of the two cups by Dan’s door.

“I… I like you, Dan. Quite a lot. I know we only just met but I just…”

“Hey,” Dan said and reached out to catch Phil’s hand. “You don’t need to apologise. I’m just glad I’m not the only one who felt it.”

“You mean?”

“I like you too, Phil. Quite a lot,” Dan repeated Phil’s words back to him.

They were just staring at each other and Dan spotted the galaxies in Phil’s eyes again. This time they were standing in a poorly lit hallway and he knew the stars weren’t being reflected in them.

It was simply Phil.

Dan felt his breath catch and then both him and Phil were moving forward and their lips met in a kiss. It was tender and new and trying but it was so full of hope and promise.

A promise to figure out where these feelings would lead them.

A hope that it could be something quite special.

Dan silently thanked his friends for ditching him, he silently thanked his impulses for driving him to sit by the lake but mostly he thanked the universe that Phil had walked by and decided to check whether he was okay.

It had been less than twelve hours since the moment had happened but Dan could already tell that this was the start of something very important in his life.

Phil said that the thing he loved most about studying here was the people.

Dan was finding himself inclined to agree, as long as the people included Phil.

Their kiss broke, their fingers were still intertwined and they were just staring into each other’s eyes.

It seemed so unlikely that the two of them should have crossed paths but maybe Phil was onto something about the universe sorting itself out.

Dan certainly hadn’t known that he had missed someone like Phil in his life until the man had been right there in front of him.

The hours they spent together had been filled with deep conversation, light-hearted banter, too many laughs to count and grateful glimpses at each other when they weren’t looking.

“Want to come in?” Dan asked Phil and started pulling him towards his room. “No funny business. I promise. Not yet at least.”

Phil was giggling and Dan was smiling brightly.

“If you are suggesting a joint nap session then I’m all in,” Phil said and leaned in to kiss Dan’s cheek, right where his dimple was showing at the moment. “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” Phil explained.

Dan couldn’t stop smiling. His face almost ached a little from constantly smiling but it was the most pleasant thing he had ever experienced.

Dan was looking into Phil’s eyes and he felt like he could see the whole world; the whole world that they could build together. He pulled Phil into another embrace and he wasn’t letting go this time.

Not when he might have found everything he never knew he needed.

They fell in love under the night’s sky and they each saw the world in each other’s eyes.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> [Reblog on tumblr](http://secretlywritingstories.tumblr.com/post/177564997065/stars-in-the-sky-galaxies-in-his-eyes) (ty!)
> 
> I miss Bath so much, I can’t believe it’s almost three years since I moved there for a semester. I loved that city so much and I loved being able to take the boys through some of my favourite spots. I also wanted to play on the fact that my friends and I often get really deep when we're drunk and like Dan, I have a tendency to run off to contemplate when I'm drunk. 
> 
> I have written all of this within just a handful of hours and I haven't had time to proofread it and it's almost midnight here but I managed to get it up on time! Penultimate day of PEDIA! The end is finally in sight as this was the last story and tomorrow will be a personal blog post about the experience and then I of course have two stories that continue with their weekly uploads so I'm not quite off the hook with the daily uploads until Monday but that's okay! If you're new to my writing you probably don't have any idea what I'm talking about but I've been doing uploads all of August 2018 and it's been so challenging but I've made some pieces that I'm really proud of. This one included.
> 
> Thank you for reading and feedback is highly appreciated. Also, sorry for any typos, I'll see if I can remember to proofread it tomorrow.


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